Tis the Season
by Musicalcat98
Summary: Jaubrey one shot! Aubrey takes Jesse home with a different intent, but stuff happens ya feel me? A lot of randomness. It's a holiday one shot! Tis the Season!


**A/N: Jaubrey One-shot to get in the holiday spirit! Trying something new and writing in first person point of view. Hope you enjoy! R&R munchkins! Also it's midnight so there a probably a lot of mistakes in it. I apologize.**

* * *

**Tis the Season**

"Luke, you promised me you'd do this!" I reminded. This was just like him, bailing at the last minute. What else did I expect?

"I'm sorry, Aubrey. I really am, but I need to go home. My sister is going home, and I haven't seen her in three years." He explained in his ridiculously annoying English accent.

I could feel the knot in my throat start to form as I cleared my throat so he wouldn't hear it crack. "I was counting on you."

"I'll make it up to you, I promise. I just can't do it. I will for spring break if they're still riding your ass about it."

"Of course they will be riding my ass about it! 'You're 22! Why don't you have a boyfriend yet? Blah blah blah.' I just need them off of my back!" I raised my voice a little louder, unintentionally earning the attention of the others in the radio station.

"I'm really sorry Aubrey. Can't you just not go home? You wouldn't have to deal with them that way."

"I can't just _not go home_ for Christmas. They're my family."

"Wouldn't they understand for just this once?" he asked. I could see the sorrow in his eyes. I knew he wasn't doing this intentionally.

"If you came with me, you'd understand that they wouldn't understand." I told him, my voice getting quieter.

"Look, I have to get back to the booth. I'm terribly sorry, Aubrey. I'll make it up. I swear." He mumbled, walking back into the tiny, isolated room with all of the radio equipment.

I grabbed my purse and meandered around the bookcases of cd's and vinyl's, trying to get out of this dark and damp place.

"Hey, Aubrey." I heard someone say. I turned around, but I didn't see anyone. At least not at first. "Is everything alright with you and Luke?" he asked, coming around the case with a box of cd's in his hand.

"Yeah it's fine. Don't worry about it." I told him.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked innocently. Man he was like a puppy dog with those big brown eyes staring back at you. I could see why Beca would like him. He's so _dreadfully_ attractive.

"Not unless you want to come home with me for Christmas and pretend to be my boyfriend so my parents will get off of my case." I mumbled under my breath. I thought it was quiet enough that he didn't hear me.

"Hmm. That's a new one. Sounds fun though! I'd be glad to do it!" I looked at him, and he had this big, dorky grin on his face.

"What? No, you don't need to do that. Don't worry about it." I assured him, a little confused and shocked at the same time.

"No really! It's better than going home. My parents are just going to fight and pretend everything is 'A-Okay'." He told me, his voice getting a little softer. It was a sensitive topic.

"Jesse, you don't have to do anything for me."

"You'd be doing me a favor, honestly." He sighed. What am I supposed to do with this? I barely know the kid, but he's offering to do this. His sob story kills, but I'm tired of having my own little sob story with this whole topic and my parents.

"I'm not sure what to say."

"Well, 'yes' is a good place to start. Plus, it gives me an excuse to get to know you. I've been meaning to catch up with you at some point. You seem like a cool person to be friends with." He trailed off, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets.

I thought about it for a minute. I could finally get my parents off of my back, and I guess it would be more of a Christmas for him. I'm not sure what the deal is with that. Plus, I could possibly get a friend out of it. As long as nothing goes terribly wrong. "Are you absolutely, positively sure that this is what you want?" I asked him.

"Absolutely, positively, doubly sure!" he grinned like a little kid. I'm not sure what it is about him. There's just something that makes me laugh. But not the bad laugh. It's definitely a good laugh.

"Alright. We've got some work to do then." I told him. If we were going to pretend to be dating, we should at least have all of our facts straight. "Come by my dorm tonight. Chloe's already gone, and we need to get our facts straight, so we are going to be able to pull this off. It's Jordan Hall, room 112." I told him.

"Got it. Jordan Hall. 112. Jordan Hall. 112." He repeated, burning it into his brain. "Wait, what time?"

"Um…when do you get off?"

"6 o'clock."

"You can just come then or whatever."

"Okay! See you then!" he said cheerfully.

I left the radio station and headed back to my dorm room. I had one more final tomorrow, and then it was time to go face the utter embarrassment of my parents. Tomorrow was my English Lit exam. It would be a breeze, but I figured I'd study anyways. It couldn't hurt.

* * *

I wasn't planning on studying that much. I just sort of got sucked into my notes, highlighting and notating things that were probably pointless to do so to. This happens a lot. I get so caught up in school work that I lose track of time and completely forget about the rest of the world. That's probably why I jumped in my seat when I heard a sudden knock on the door.

"It's open!" I called, not even looking up from my textbook.

I heard the door open and glanced up, seeing Jesse standing there awkwardly with his book bag slung over his shoulder.

"Oh, should I come back since you're um…" he started.

"No no. It's fine. I need to stop anyways." I cut him off, closing my textbook and notebook and pushing them to the edge of my twin bed.

"Oh, well alright then! What do we need to do?" he asked, taking a seat in the desk chair.

"Well, if we're going to pretend that we are in love, we should probably learn a little bit about each other. I don't think I know anything about you besides the fact that you're a Treble."

"And you're a Bella. The lead Bella, might I add." He pointed out.

"Okay. I don't really know where to start. I'm not very good at this whole relationship thing." I admitted, dropping my eyes to the ground. I don't know why I just said that. He didn't need to know that.

"I'm not either." He mumbled. I sighed a small sigh of relief. This could either work or completely blow up in our faces.

"Did you get a chance to tell your parents yet?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I called my mom on the way over here. She's a little sad, but she was totally cool with it at the same time. It's weird."

"Okay good! Wait, what did you tell them?"

"I told them that my girlfriend invited me to her family's place for Christmas." He smirked, adding a small wink.

"And they were totally cool with that?"

"Yep!" he said with a small nod of his head.

"Well, I guess we should get started then." I sighed, picking up my feet so I was sitting Indian style on my bed.

"Okay, so I guess we start with the basics then." He began. "What's your favorite color?"

"Red. Yours?"

"Blue. Favorite food?"

"Macaroons. Definitely macaroons." I giggled, picturing the little desserts in my mind.

"Hmm. I think I'm going to have to go with chocolate."

"What's your favorite song?" I asked. I figured it would be a good song. He seemed like he had a good taste in music. He at least has a good ear for it.

"Hmm. That's tough. I don't know if I can choose between _She's Got a Way_ or _Piano Man._"

I couldn't believe it! He was a total Billy Joel fan! "This is going to work." I muttered under my breath.

"What was that?" he asked. Man, he has good ears.

"_Vienna_. My favorite song is _Vienna_. Although I've been listening to _And So It Goes_ a lot recently." I admitted, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

"Billy Joel. His music is so moving. I'm just naturally drawn to him more than anyone. Although, Elton John is a close second."

"I think this might just work."

Jesse chuckled softly and ran his hand through his hair. "Beca might have told you this, I'm not sure how close you two are or anything, but I'm a total movie nerd, so what is your favorite movie?"

Of course he's a movie nerd. He's every girl's dream guy. I finally understood Beca's toner. It all makes sense now. "I really like _Pretty in Pink_ and _The Breakfast Club_. I know it sounds stupid and all that jazz, but I like the older movies."

"It's not stupid at all." He told me with a grin on his face. He grabbed his book bag and unzipped it. He pulled out a dvd case for _The Breakfast Club_ and showed it to me. He wasn't kidding when he said he's a movie nerd. He randomly pulled a movie out of his bag.

"You're kind of a dork, you know that right?" I laughed.

"Yeah, but I'm a dork that you need right now, so you're stuck with my dork self."

"Good point. Okay, let's see what else we should know about each other…I have an older brother and a hard ass for a father. I've never gotten a B on anything, and I don't plan on it either. I've never gotten second place. My father says 'Second place is the first loser' so I've always done everything I do perfectly. I love classic stuff, ya'know, music, movies, books, stuff like that. I like modern things too, but I'm definitely drawn to things that are older than I am." I told him. That was about it. That's all I could think of. There's not anything majorly special about me.

"That's pretty interesting! Let's see…I'm an only child as well. I'm not a straight A student. I don't think I've won anything besides 'Camper of the Year' at theatre camp…"

"You went to theatre camp?" I interrupted. I'm sorry. He just didn't seem like a theatre kid.

"Yeah. I went for probably 8 years. Something like that."

"Interesting. I didn't have you pegged as a theatre kid."

"Well, I guess this goes to show we have more work to do." He smirked. "But, yeah. I'm just your average singing Joe. I also have a pretty great movie collection that I love. That's pretty much the bases for me."

"Well, I guess that this will do for now. Do you think you'd be able to leave tomorrow afternoon? I have an exam at 8, but I should be finished by 10:30. This gives us time to get packed and stuff. It's about a three hour drive nonstop give or take who's driving."

"Yeah, I can do that. I don't have anything tomorrow, so I'll be ready."

"Alright. I guess I'll see you then." I told him before closing the door and getting ready for bed.

* * *

"I'm driving." Jesse said, picking up my bag from my dorm.

"Um, you don't know how to get there. I'm driving. Plus we are already getting a later start than originally intended." I reminded him.

"Don't be silly. It would look weird if we pulled up into your driveway and you were driving."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. I sort of knew what he was getting at, but I wanted to see how we would explain it.

"I just mean that, um, ya'know, as the guy in the '_relationship'_, I should do the things guys do. For instance, drive them wherever they want to go. I'm just trying to be a gentleman. Damn."

"Alright Swanson. Don't get your panties in a bunch." I joked, following him out to his car where his bag already was.

"This is going to be fun!" he exclaimed, climbing into the driver's seat.

"Loads." I mumbled, resting my head against the headrest.

* * *

Jesse pulled into the familiar driveway and turned the car off.

"Okay, so a few ground rules." I began. "I understand that it needs to be believable, but don't push it. Don't say anything you're unsure of. If you dig yourself into a hole, you bet your vocal chords that you're getting yourself out of that one." I instructed.

"Alright and understood." He nodded. "Now…can I finally meet the parents?" he asked with a wink.

"Let's go."

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!" I called as I opened the front door. We kicked off our shoes that had snow slush on them, and I led Jesse through the house to the kitchen where I knew my parents would be.

"Aubrey! It's so great to see you!" my mom said, wrapping me in a hug. I swear she loves cutting off my circulation.

"It's good to see you too, mom." I told her. "Mom, this is Jesse. He's my, uh, boyfriend." I stuttered, mentally kicking myself.

He extended his hand out to her, but she wrapped him in a big hug.

"Oh, it's so nice to meet you!"

"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Posen!" Jesse said cheerfully.

"So, come on! Give me the details!" she giggled.

"Details?" I echoed in confusion.

"How long have you two been dating, and all that good stuff?"

"9 months." Jesse cut in, placing his arm around my shoulder. We finally agreed on a time span together. We pretty much worked out the quirks for the entire three hour car ride here. There wasn't really anything else to do.

"Is Chris home yet?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"He's upstairs in his room getting all settled in." she said, nodding towards the staircase. "Come on! Let's get you two settled in." she added, making her way upstairs. We followed behind her with our suitcases in hand.

"Your father suggested putting your boyfriend, well Jesse, in the den with the pull out couch, but I insisted you two get your own privacy. You're old enough to handle it." She explained, opening up my old bedroom door. My stomach dropped to the basement. I wasn't expecting this. I was honestly expecting for them to put him in the den. Not in _my _room. My _personal _room. No one has been in there besides family and a few girl friends from high school, and here Jesse is, sleeping in it with me when I barely know the guy. Of course, my parents don't know that.

"I can sleep in the den, Mrs. Posen." Jesse tried to get her to comply. He felt just as awkward about it. "If it would make her father happy, I'll do that."

"Don't be silly! You two lovebirds can bunk together! I mean, I'm guessing you have already so it doesn't make a difference."

"Mom!" I choked out, taken aback by her statement. My cheeks were burning red. I don't know what had gotten into her. She's never been like this before, especially when Chris brought a girlfriend home.

"I was in college once too, princess." She laughed heartily. "I'll let you two get settled in. Did you eat dinner yet?"

"Yeah, we stopped on the way here." I mumbled.

"Sweetie, don't mumble. You know I hate when you do that." She reprimanded me, kinder than normal.

"Sorry." I said more clearly.

"Okay, see you two lovebirds later!" she called, closing the door behind her.

"So…" Jesse trailed off, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"What?" I asked, a hint of frustration in my voice.

"What are we going to do about our…_sleeping arrangements_?" he asked awkwardly.

I sighed and sat down on the edge of my old bed and looked around the vaguely familiar bedroom lined with ribbons and trophies along with tiaras on a shelf all the way around my room. I was a _little _competitive when I was younger. Okay, I still am.

"We're going to sleep together in here." I sighed.

I didn't quite catch what I said, but Jesse did and burst into a fit of laughter.

"Okay, you know what I meant!" I exclaimed, throwing a pillow at him. He caught it as it hit his stomach. He walked over to the bed and put it back on, taking a seat beside me.

"Say what you mean, and mean what you say." He smirked.

"Shut up. I would let you bunk with Chris, but he only has a twin size bed in his room. He opted for a new tv rather than a bigger bed." I explained.

"Smart guy." Jesse admitted, running his hand through his hair again.

"Is this going to bother you? If it does, I can get my mom to set up the bed in the den. Don't worry."

"No, no. This is fine. A little unexpected, but still fine." He assured me.

I felt a burning on my knee, so I looked down and noticed his hand placed on my right knee. I don't really know why I started blushing. I've never done that before. I don't underst-

It's gone. He pulled his hand off of my knee. Damn. I kind of liked it there.

"Um…where's the bathroom? I'm going to take a shower to freshen up. That was sort of long drive." He trailed off.

"It's right here." I said, getting up and opening the door next to my closet.

"Okay, thanks." He mumbled, getting clothes out of his suitcase.

"There are towels in the linen closet in there. Well, there should be." I told him as he walked.

"Thanks. I'll be out in a bit."

* * *

"So how's college treating you, little sis?" Chris asked. We have always had this weird bond. Most siblings fight, especially when there's a five year gap between them, but not us. We sort of rescued each other whenever we needed it. That was usually when dad would get all pissed off at something and take it out on us. Not physically of course. He just…he just likes to yell…a lot.

"It's good. Keeping me busy and stuff." I mumbled, sitting in his desk chair.

"Got a guy yet?" he asked. He knew I've never been dead set on having a boyfriend. I knew it would happen when it's supposed to happen. I didn't want to lie to him, but the less people who know, the better.

"Yeah, Jesse. He's here. He's taking a shower." I said, gesturing back to my room.

"Is it serious?" he asked. This definitely peaked his interest, and it ate me up inside.

"A little…"

"How long?"

"9 months."

"That's pretty serious, Bree."

"Yeah, I guess so…" I trailed off. I held up a finger to silence Chris when I heard a voice.

"Shit. Aubrey? Where'd you go?" Jesse was silently yelling.

"Speak of the guy." I muttered, getting up and poking my head into the hall. "Hey Jesse. In here." I called, directing my hand into the room.

"Sorry. I don't know my way around yet." He mumbled.

"It's alright. Jesse, this is Chris, my older brother. Chris, this is Jesse, my _boyfriend_." I sort of emphasized the word "boyfriend" so he wouldn't see right through me.

Chris extended his hand towards Jesse, and he gladly shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Jesse."

"You too, Chris." Jesse was grinning with his ador-what? No. He was grinning with his typical smile. Not adorable. It can't be adorable. I cannot find his smile adorable. Absolutely not. This was strictly business. Okay, not exactly.

"So, Bree was just telling me how serious you two were getting." Chris smirked.

"Bree, hmm?" Jesse echoed with a smirk, looking over at me.

"Aubrey is too long, and I'm a little lazy." He chuckled.

"It's not that long. You're just _extremely _lazy." I defended my name.

"No, no! It's cute!" Jesse grinned. "I typically like 'Aubs' better, but 'Bree' works just as well." He winked.

"Oh, that's a first! I've never heard 'Aubs' before. Good job, Jesse!" Chris said with a small laugh.

I grinned sheepishly. How long did it take him to come up with that one? An hour, a few minutes, a second?

Aubs.

It's cute. And dorky. It's very dorky, a lot like him. But it was definitely cute. Still a lot like him.

* * *

"Okay, you take the bed. I can sleep on the floor." I mumbled, grabbing a comforter from the closet in the hallway.

"Don't be ridiculous _Aubs._ What kind of 'boyfriend' would I be if I made you sleep on the floor while I was curled up in bed? You're sleeping in the bed."

"Jesse, you're the guest. I've slept on this floor thousands of times. I can do it again for a week or so." I reminded him.

"No, Aubrey. You're not sleeping on the floor. I'm not letting you." He said firmly.

"Well, I'm not letting you sleep on the floor either." I stood my ground, wrapping the comforter around me and sitting down on the floor.

"If you don't get in this bed, I will pick you up and put you in it myself."

I didn't budge. He wouldn't do anything. I'm stubborn, so I've heard.

The next thing I knew, Jesse was lunging at me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and picked me up off the floor and carried me to the bed. Despite my objections, he was adamant about me sleeping on my bed. When I squirmed to get out of his grasp, he simply held on tighter. There was a small voice in the back of my head telling me to keep squirming.

"Stay." He deadpanned, pointing his finger at me.

"Jesse, please. It will eat me up inside knowing you're sleeping on the floor." I begged.

Jesse froze. He glanced over at the floor and back at the bed. "You really don't want me to sleep on the floor?" he asked, and I nodded my head assuredly. "Alright then." He said, walking over to the bed.

Wait. What is he doing? Is he getting in bed? No. What is this?

"Umm…"

"You're not sleeping on the floor, and apparently neither am I. Do you see another place for me to sleep? We agreed that we'd be grown up about this, Aubrey." He said, placing a pillow in between us. "There's your side, and here's mine. Okay?"

I wasn't sure what to say to this. I mean it made sense since we are both stubborn. I simply nodded and laid down on my side of the bed. He laid down and turned over towards the edge of the bed. He reached over and turned the lamp off.

"Goodnight…Aubs." He said quietly. I could practically hear his smile. I can't explain it, but I knew he was smiling.

"Goodnight Jesse." I said, turning over to face him. Force of habit. I always sleep on my right side.

* * *

Sometime through the night, I ended up using the pillow that was used to separate our sides as my actual pillow. My arm was wrapped around it, and my head was resting on the top part. I squished my eyes together before groggily opening them. Something didn't feel right. I knew that Jesse was there. It wasn't that.

I blinked my eyes a few times to focus them. I instantly saw Jesse's sleeping face, his solid jaw that was relaxed, his soft lips, his round eyes, his left arm crooked under his head. He looked peaceful. I couldn't disturb him. I turned over to go get out of bed and head downstairs. That's when I felt it.

I instantly looked down at my waist. I wasn't sure what to do at that point. Do I move it? Do I just lay here? Am I supposed to bring this up in a later conversation? What do I do?

It actually felt nice.

I smugly laid back down. I focused my attention back on his hand that was resting on my waist. It was innocent. He probably didn't know he did it. As much as I wanted to be mad at him (it's not like we were great friends before I asked, no he volunteered to do this), I couldn't be. He looked so peaceful and innocent, and it felt nice.

The more I thought about it, the more I started to get little flutters in my stomach. I could feel my cheeks turning a crimson red. Thank goodness, he is still asleep and it's just us anyways.

Something inside of me told me to put my hand over his, so I did. I could feel his warm hand under mine, which felt ice cold compared to his. I relaxed my arm which ended up resting against his, too. The touch of his skin sent electricity through my body.

We were supposed to just pretend like we were in love. I wasn't actually supposed to develop feelings for him, damn it.

I felt him starting to stir. Crap, he's awake. I shut my eyes and pretended like I was asleep still, hoping he didn't see them opened. By the movement of the bed, it felt like he lifted up his head and looked over at me, but I didn't feel the movement of him laying back down. He must be watching me, propping his head up with his hand.

I felt his fingers move under my hand, but he didn't move his hand away. My stomach fluttered again, and I tried to keep my eyes shut still, but I couldn't. I rolled over and faced him and squished my eyes closed before opening them like I had just woken up. I saw his face and his ador-dork-okay adorable grin plastered on his face.

"Good morning Sleeping Beauty." He said softly, lifting his hand from my waist and running it through my hair.

I pursed my lips and looked up at him.

"Look, if I'm going to at least pretend to be your boyfriend, you have to cut me some slack. I'm trying here!" he said, setting his hand on the pillow between us.

"I know. I know. I'm sorry. This is new to me. I'm trying, too." I mumbled, fidgeting with the blanket.

"I know. I can see how much you're trying. If you need to, just follow my lead. I've watched enough cheesy, romantic movies in my life. This can't be _that_ hard." He laughed.

"For some reason, I believe you when you say you've seen a lot of cheesy, romantic movies. I can totally picture you in your dorm with a bag of popcorn, sitting in front of your laptop, trying not to cry." I joked.

"What? Do you have cameras set on me or something?" he asked jokingly.

"Watch your back Swanson." I smirked. "Come on. Let's go get breakfast. They're probably all up."

"No sleeping in in this house?" he asked curiously as he crawled out of bed.

"Not really. Is 9:30 sleeping in because that's usually the latest time we get up?"

"Wow, you are so deprived of fun!"

"Tell me about it." I muttered under my breath.

We walked downstairs and into the kitchen, and we were greeted to the smell of coffee. Thank goodness.

"Well good morning you two!" My mother greeted cheerfully. "Good night's sleep?"

I nodded my head and got down two mugs for Jesse and me.

"I slept like a baby." Jesse threw in, which seemed to make my mom laugh.

"Well, that's good to hear!" she exclaimed.

I poured two cups of coffee and set one down in front of him.

"Thank you, sweetie." He said coolly, taking a sip of coffee.

I simply nodded and took a sip of my own.

"Where's Chris?" I asked curiously.

"He's with your father in the living room." My mom told us.

I grabbed Jesse's hand and led him to the living room. We pretended like it was nothing, ya'know, me grabbing his hand like that, but those dumb butterflies were back in my stomach again.

"Hey kiddo!" Chris called as we walked in. "Kiddo's boyfriend." He added.

Jesse nodded and lifted his cup towards Chris.

"Aubrey! I'm glad to see you up! You too, Jesse." Dad said, setting down the newspaper.

"Good morning, daddy." I said as sweetly as possible.

"So I figured today, we could stay in, and I can get to know Jesse a little better. Then we can all go out for dinner tonight since we are going to Granny's tomorrow night." He said, taking off his reading glasses and looking over at us.

"Don't scare him off." I said quietly.

"No promises." He grunted. Figures.

* * *

"Do you want to build a snowman?" Jesse asked. We were sitting on the couch next to each other watching some random show that came on. Neither of us were actually interested it, but we didn't want to change the channel.

I looked out the window and noticed that it had snowed more overnight. I was kind of bored of sitting inside all day. Somehow, Jesse managed to pass my dad's interrogation without seeming too suspicious. That, or my dad is losing his game.

"Why not…" I finally sighed.

We ran upstairs and grabbed our jackets before running downstairs and slipping our shoes on.

"Where are you two going?" Chris asked as he was heading back upstairs.

"We're going to build a snowman." Jesse chirped.

Chris looked at us curiously and then nodded us away as he ran up the stairs.

"I guess he didn't want to come." Jesse mumbled as we walked outside into the brisk coolness.

It took us probably thirty minutes to somehow put our "snowman" together.

"I think we did something wrong." I mumbled, stepping back to get a better look.

Jesse stepped back next to me. I could feel the heat radiating off of his body, he was that close to me. "If you tilt your head and squint really hard, it doesn't look that bad." He laughed.

I tilted my head and squinted, and he took great pleasure in seeing that.

"Oh, I know!" he exclaimed excitedly. "He looks like Olaf!"

"Olaf?"

"Please tell me you've seen Frozen." He deadpanned.

I bit my lip and shook my head no. The look on his face was priceless! He looked like he'd just gotten his favorite candy taken away from him.

"What is wrong with you?" he asked quietly.

"I've just been busy with school, and I haven't had any time to see it yet." I admitted. I heard many great reviews about it, and it was definitely on my list to go see. Eventually, of course.

"We are going to see it. I'm not going back to Barden until I have watched you watch Frozen."

"You seem very adamant about this situation." I joked, turning around to face him.

"Oh, I am." He laughed.

Jesse bent down and messed around in the snow. I didn't think anything of it until he stood up and had a devilish grin on his face with a ball of packed snow in his hand.

"No. Jesse, what are you…don't do this Jesse!" I yelled, running away from him. Of course, there was a foot of snow, so I couldn't run very fast or very far. I felt the snowball hit my shoulder. Thankfully, my jacket was thick enough that it didn't really hurt. I stopped in my tracks and leaned down, picking up a handful of snow and packing it into a misshaped ball. I looked over at Jesse who had shock written on his face. I threw the ball over at him before he could react, smacking him in the chest.

Jesse lunged after me as he kept laughing. He's a lot faster and stronger than me, so it was pointless for me to actually try to run away. He grabbed my waist and spun me around in a circle. I squealed for him to put me down, and he eventually did. We locked eyes for a few seconds, his hands still on my waist, my hands resting against his chest.

"Let's go see Frozen." He whispered, grabbing my hand and pulling me inside the house.

* * *

"Okay, that was adorable!" I admitted as we walked out of the movie theater.

"Right?!"

I was humming the tune to one of the songs without even thinking about it as we walked to his car. He opened the passenger side door for me with a "M'lady" gesture. I just cocked an eyebrow up at his actions. He didn't have to be my boyfriend when my family isn't around us.

"I can be a gentleman!" he defended.

* * *

We met my family at the restaurant for dinner. We walked inside and took off our coats since it was nice and toasty inside. We saw my mom, dad, and brother sitting at one of the booths with menus in their hands, so we walked over towards them.

"Hey you two! How was the movie?" my mom asked as we took our seats across from them.

"It was good! It was very cute and wintery!" I explained. I noticed Jesse looking over at me as I talked, his face going soft as he listened.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Now, let's eat." My dad interrupted. He always gets grumpy when he's hungry.

During dinner, Jesse would awkwardly put his arm around me, and I would purposefully lean into him to show like we weren't faking it. We were pretty bad at the actual PDA part of this. We just felt so awkward with each other. It wasn't intentional or anything.

* * *

After dinner, everyone decided to call it a night and dispersed to their bedrooms.

"I'm going to take a shower." Jesse told me, as he walked into the bathroom.

I decided to go downstairs and make some hot cocoa. It tasted amazing, so I ended up drinking it faster than I intended to. When I walked back upstairs, I heard Chris talking to someone in his room. I figured Jesse was out of the shower and was in there with Chris talking about guy stuff or whatever, so I walked back into my room.

Without even thinking about it, I opened up the bathroom door to go brush my teeth. How could I be so stupid? I mean, obviously there was no water running, but still, I should have knocked!

Jesse was standing at the sink with his toothbrush in his mouth and a towel wrapped around his waist.

"I'm—uh, I just, um, needed to brush my—I'm sorry." I stuttered, trying not to look at him. It was kind of hard. It's not like the bathroom was very big. I didn't have much place else to look.

He turned around and spit the toothpaste out of his mouth. "I should have locked the door. I'm sorry." He mumbled, his face turning bright red.

"No, I'm the idiot. I thought you were in Chris's room talking. I heard him talking to someone—you know what! Why am I still here?" I mumbled, closing the door.

I sat on the bed and pretended to check my phone, but all I could think about was what I just saw in there. It was a complete accident. It's not like I had "barge in on Jesse when he's in the bathroom" on my to-do list.

When the door opened, I sheepishly looked up and met his gaze. He still didn't have a shirt on, but at least he hand pajama pants on this time.

"I'm really sorry." I mumbled, looking back at the floor.

"Don't worry about it, Aubs." He assured me, sitting down beside me. "It was an accident."

"Yeah. It won't happen again." I promised. I got up and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and put on my pajamas.

When I came out, Jesse was lying in bed on his phone.

"Hey." I said softly, causing him to sit up.

"Hey!"

I walked around the bed and crawled into my side of the bed, pulling the covers up to my chin. I don't understand how he wasn't cold without a shirt on. I mean, I'm not complaining. It's not a bad view…at all. It's just freezing, and he's just…wow. Aubrey, snap out of it!

"So tomorrow is Christmas Eve, huh?" he pointed out.

"Yeah. It's already that time again." I sighed. Christmas Eve meant uncomfortable dinners with my dad's mom. It's a tradition to go eat dinner with her. She's just as nosy about my love life as my parents are.

"Well, Merry Christmas Eve's Eve, I guess." He joked, trying to soften the mood and break the tension between us.

"You're such a dork." I laughed, turning over on my side so I could see him. He was already looking at me again. When I looked up at him, a small smile appeared on his face, and his eyes lit up.

"I get that a lot."

"Hey, Jesse?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"You're more than welcome. It's my pleasure." He said kindly. "Now get some rest, sleepyhead." He added, turning off the light and lying back down in bed.

"Hey Jesse, one more thing?"

"What's that?" he asked.

"Do we really need this pillow in between us? I mean, can't we both be adults about this?"

Jesse grabbed the pillow from between us and threw it off to the side of the bed. He scooted a little bit closer to me, but I pretended not to notice.

"Better?" he asked.

"Much." I smiled even though he couldn't see.

Maybe we should keep the pillow in between us from now on. I woke up to warmth. It wasn't "curled up in a ball under layers of blankets" warmth. It was "I'm really close to another human being and my stomach is fluttering" warmth. I opened my eyes and saw myself staring at Jesse's chest. His arm was wrapped around my body like he was pulling me closer to him. How much closer could I get? I was almost kissing his chest for crying out loud! I felt his chin lightly resting on my head as he slept some more. Man, he's so _dreadfully_ attractive.

I didn't want to wake him up, so I buried my head back into his chest and closed my eyes again, drifting back to sleep.

I woke back up to Jesse running his fingers up and down my arms, sending chills down my spine.

"Oh. You're awake!" he mumbled when he saw me open my eyes finally.

I smiled a small smile up at him and let out a small yawn. I guess I was more tired than I thought. He laughed softly at me, so I stuck out my tongue at him, and he pretended to be hurt from my response.

"You want some coffee?" he asked, but I shook my head no. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked, knowing that I loved coffee.

"I'm fine." I mumbled.

"But you don't want coffee…?"

"I don't want to move just yet." I admitted, avoiding eye contact with him to make it less awkward.

Jesse wrapped his arm around me again and held me tightly. I smiled into his chest as I felt his arms flex as he held me. I probably looked like an idiot with this stupid grin on my face, but I couldn't help it! He's growing on me!

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I could smell him. Jesse. Aside from the fact that he smelled like a boy, and my sheets, he also smelled like the ocean. I'm guessing it's his shampoo or whatever, but whatever it is smells amazing!

I heard a faint knock on the door, and before I could react, it opened up. My mom's head poked into my room. She had a huge smile on her face as she saw us lying there together. I had to blink my eyes so I could see her clearly.

"I was just checking on you two. It's 10:30!" she said cheerfully.

I groaned and threw my head back onto the pillow. Was that really necessary?

"Well I guess it's a good thing she saw us looking like we are a couple somewhat…" Jesse acknowledged.

"I guess we should get up now." I sighed. "I'm going to go take a shower. You can go down if you'd like."

"I'd rather not go by myself. I'll just stay here and get changed until you're finished." He said.

"Okay. I won't take too long."

I was in and out of the shower in ten minutes. I put on my clothes and pulled my wet hair up into a bun. I'd do something with it later before we go out, but now wasn't the time.

"You ready?" I asked Jesse, who was lying in bed looking up at the ceiling.

"Yeah I'm good!" he said, hopping out of bed, following me downstairs.

* * *

As we stood drinking our coffee, talking to my parents, Jesse casually placed his hand along the small of my back. I continued talking like I didn't notice, but I was starting to get flustered after a while. He noticed and immediately pulled his hand away. Once we were finally alone again, he looked like he was full of guilt.

"I'm sorry." He muttered.

"For what?"

"For, ya'know, my hand on your back and making you get all flustered." He stumbled over his words.

I looked down at my feet and then back up at him. "It's my fault. I should learn how to not get all flustered when you're around." I said quietly, almost hoping he didn't hear, but judging by the small smile on his face, he heard.

* * *

"It's a tradition, Swanson. Every year on Christmas Eve, we go to the mall! I don't know why, but we just do." I explained as we walked into the huge building. "We'll go to Granny's in a bit for dinner, though. 'Family Time'." I explained.

"Am I supposed to be your boyfriend here?" he asked quietly.

"When we are around my parents, yes. When we are alone, no."

"Got it." He said with a quick nod of his head.

My parents stopped to look at something in a display case, but Jesse and I kept walking. Our arms brushed together, which sent butterflies straight to my stomach every time we touched. I felt his hand gently brush up against mine, but I decided that I was crazy and it was an accident. I would have been fine with that assumption, but it happened again. And again. If he's trying to fool my parents, all he has to do is grab my hand just like we've been doing these past few days. He doesn't have to do all of this. I decided to go along with it, thinking it was all a part of the act. I purposefully "accidentally" knocked my hand against his gently. He smiled and looked at his feet quickly before looking up. He touched my hand softly once more. I didn't budge. I didn't look at him or anything. He didn't look at me. Our eyes were focused on the stores and mayhem of everything going on around us.

I felt Jesse's palm slip into mine just as we've done these past few days. It still sent a spark through my system though. But this time, it felt different. It didn't feel like it had felt before. This felt real.

Jesse laced his fingers in mine, and that's when I figured it out. He wasn't trying to hold my hand for my parents to see. He just wanted to hold my hand in general. We've just been clasping hands while we do it. I don't know why. We just never intertwined our fingers together.

I looked up at him with a sheepish smile on my face. He looked at me out of the corner of my eye and squeezed my hand gently. I squeezed it back gently, absorbing the feelings that were going crazy inside of me.

We continued to walk around the mall, running into different stores together. We each bought things, but we wouldn't let each other see since we ended up buying Christmas gifts. It was kind of dorky and cute at the same time.

* * *

When we got home, we all ran to get dressed to go to Granny's. Dinner would be soon, and if we are late, we won't hear the end of it. Plus, Posen's are never late.

I slipped on my black Christmas dress with tights on and my boots since its freezing outside. I grabbed my red peacoat that was hanging up in the back of my closet and slipped it on. Jesse came out in his nice khakis and a button down shirt. He grabbed his blazer and pulled it on.

"Do I need to put a tie on?" he asked once he saw I was in a dress.

I looked him over and shook my head. "You look fine." I assured him.

* * *

Dinner at Granny's is always…interesting. That's a good word for it. Interesting. She quickly noticed Jesse standing by my side and immediately began to interrogate us.

Jesse simply chuckled and handled the whole situation better than I imagined he would. He simply talked his way through it, being careful not to say anything that could dig us into a deep mess.

"If you two have been dating for 9 months now, how come you don't act like it?" she finally asked.

I shook my head slightly at her profound question. "How are we supposed to act Gran?"

"Act like you're in love! I don't know! Not like awkward little kids in grade school!"

Jesse blushed slightly as we were being called out. We'd have to step up our game for tonight.

"I think we can do that, right sweetie?" Jesse asked with a small, unseen wink.

"You're right, Jess." I followed his lead.

Jesse gently found my hand and laced his fingers in mine again, causing me to blush nervously. I felt his thumb softly run over my knuckle, driving me insane. I think he could tell because he eventually stopped once he looked over at me.

* * *

As we finished cleaning up after dinner and began to walk out of the kitchen, Granny began to yell at us, telling us to stop where we were at. Thinking something was wrong, we both turned towards her, but she wasn't looking at us. She was looking above us.

"Shit." I muttered under my breath.

Jesse looked up and paled slightly.

"Look, we aren't really big into PDA." I lied. I never thought I'd have to kiss him. I didn't know I'd have to put him through this!

"Nonsense!" Granny scolded. "Mistletoe is mistletoe. You have to abide by it. Everyone does."

I pursed my lips as I continued to look at her and my mother. I turned back towards Jesse and sighed, but he had a devious grin on his face. He was going to enjoy this too much.

"Sorry." I mouthed where they couldn't see.

He shrugged his shoulders slightly. The next thing I knew, Jesse's hands were on my waist, and his mouth was considerably close to mine. Here goes nothing…

I gently cupped his face as he wrapped his arms around me. I parted my lips slightly right before his pressed into mine. I closed my eyes on instant contact and fell into the kiss. If I could just be kissed like that every single day because it was so soft and gentle. And heavenly might I add.

You know that cheesy thing that people say about the fireworks going off in their head and what not? Well, that doesn't happen in real life. But you're stomach knots and your breath catches in the back of your throat as your entire body is taken over by this one rush of electricity. It makes you weak in your knees, causing you to hold on tight. You aren't sure of the exact emotion you're feeling in that moment, but you know you love it because you just want to experience it again and again.

Jesse pulled back gently. He was staring at me with this kind smile on his face. He leaned forward and pressed his warm lips against my forehead. I could still feel them on my lips even though we weren't touching anymore. I pulled my fingers up to my mouth and ran them over my lips as I looked back up at him.

"Now that's what I call being in love!" Granny exclaimed. She finally got what she wanted. And I did too. And this time, it wasn't a lie. It's not _technically_ a lie…anymore.

I stuck by Jesse's side for the remainder of the night, catching glimpses of him staring every now and again. He held my hand at every chance he got, which was almost for the rest of the evening. We would be listening to the conversation, but I would lean into his body and feel his arm wrap around me or play with my hair gently. We'd just get so fascinated with each other that we didn't pay attention to anything else.

When we got home and ready for bed, Jesse crawled into bed next to me.

"Do we need to talk about today?" he asked with concern in his voice.

"Not yet. I don't want to forget about it with our worries and discussions." I whispered, scooting closer to him. He leaned over and turned the lamp off and turned back over.

"Good." He said quietly. I turned over and faced away from him, but he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me into his body. I couldn't help but smile when I felt his lips on the top of my head. "Goodnight Aubs."

"Goodnight Jess." I mumbled drowsily.

* * *

This morning was different, besides the fact that it was Christmas morning. I woke up to an empty bed. I checked the time, and it wasn't late, like at all. It was only 7:45.

I crawled out of bed and made my way downstairs, following the voices. "Merry Christmas!" I said as I walked into the kitchen.

"Merry Christmas, princess!" mom greeted, engulfing me in a giant hug.

"Merry Christmas, Aubrey." My father said, looking up from the newspaper, probably yesterday's.

"Merry Christmas, daddy." I said innocently.

Chris was next. "Merry Christmas, little munchkin!" he shouted, wrapping his arm around my neck and rubbing his knuckles on top of my head.

I pouted once I escaped his hold.

"Merry Christmas, Sweetheart." Jesse said kindly, leaning down and placing a soft kiss against my lips. I leaned up on the balls of my feet and grinned as he kissed me.

"Merry Christmas, sweetie." I told him, resting my head against his chest. He handed me his cup of coffee, and I took a small sip, not even thinking about it. It's like it was something natural, something I do on a daily basis.

"Now that everyone is up," mom began, looking over at me, "let's open presents!"

Christmas was definitely her favorite time of the year. She loved the presents with the whole giving and receiving thing, but she really loved having her family together. I love it too, but she seems to appreciate it more.

We followed her into the living room and sat down around the tree where everyone's presents were. Jesse and I leaned up against the couch and watched as mom distributed presents like usual. I couldn't help but smile when she set quite a few in front of Jesse, but he just looked really confused. I elbowed him in the side playfully. When he looked over at me, I winked at him. He smiled and kissed my forehead softly. I closed my eyes for a second, taking in the moment around me.

We went in a circle opening presents one after the other. I had gotten clothes more than anything. Jesse was smiling like a little kid. My parents had gotten him some movies, with the help of Chris of course. We were still a little groggy since it was early.

"Okay! It's Aubrey's and Jesse's turn!" my said cheerfully, looking over at us.

"Oh, right!" I perked up. I got up and walked over to the tree and pulled out the box that was wrapped up in reindeer wrapping paper. I was grinning from ear to ear as I handed it to Jesse.

I watched as he opened it and tore open the box. He pulled out the belongings one by one: a Billy Joel Complete Hits Collection along with a signed t-shirt that had been in my room forever, (my granddad gave it to me for my tenth birthday. He went to the concert himself and waited to meet him, but the shirt would never fit me. Jesse should have it.) and a director's edition of the Harry Potter Series on dvd.

His eyes were full of life as he looked at everything. He looked up at me with the hugest grin on his face. "I—I don't know what to say!" he stuttered.

"Merry Christmas, Jesse." I smiled.

"Oh! Your turn!" he said excitedly. He reached around the couch and retrieved a small package. He handed it to me and watched as I gently removed the wrapping paper. It was a black, velvet rectangular box. I quickly opened it. My breath caught in the back of my throat as I looked at it. It was a sterling silver necklace, but it was a treble clef and a bass clef arranged to form a heart.

"Would you?" I asked, carefully picking up the necklace and handing it to him. We stood up, and I turned around away from him, pulling my hair off of my neck. Jesse clasped the chain together and placed a soft kiss on the base of my neck. He leaned forward close to my ear.

"I'm tired of pretending." He whispered so only I could hear.

I turned around and faced him. I wrapped my arms around the back of his neck and pressed my lips against his. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him as he kissed me back. That spark came back, but this time it was a million times stronger.

I pulled apart from the kiss and looked up at him. I stood on my tippy toes and leaned in next to his ear. "Well, let's stop pretending then. It's what we both want anyways." I whispered quietly, wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my head on his chest.

This could work.

* * *

**A/N: Okay this is super long! I didn't realize how long it would be when I started writing it! I hope it didn't bore you! Also, I apologize for any mistakes. It's midnight and finals week so I'm already screwed. Oh well. I just couldn't stop writing. **


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